Weekly Adriamycin vs. 4-epidoxorubicin every second week in advanced breast cancer. A randomized trial. The Norwegian Breast Cancer Group

One hundred and sixty-six patients with advanced breast cancer previously not treated with chemotherapy for metastatic disease were randomly allocated to 20 mg Adriamycin i.v. weekly (Awkly) as bolus injection or 50 mg 4-epidoxorubicin biweekly over a 3-h infusion time (EPIbiwkly). Of the 149 patients evaluable for response, the response rate was 36% for Awkly vs. 22% for EPIbiwkly (P = 0.10). There was no difference in response duration or survival. The main difference between the two regimens was in toxicity. Seventy per cent of Awkly patients virtually had no side-effects vs. 15% in the EPIbiwkly group. Significant differences in favour of Awkly were observed both for nausea/vomiting and alopecia.